Is This The Phils Turnaround...

Philadelphia won their third straight game tonight and have won 11 out of 13 to pull to within 2 games of the division lead as they Phils head into tomorrow's game looking for a sweep.

The Philadelphia Phillies (59-48) defeated the Florida Marlins last night by a score of 7-2 as they hand the Fish their third straight loss in a row as a new star made an impact for the Phils.

Rookie outfielder Domonic Brown shined again tonight as he drove in a career-high three RBI tonight and also hand a hand in a outfield assist as he has started out hitting .273 with the big league club as he tries out right field as Shane Victorino recovers with Jayson Werth filling in for him.

A familiar face also made an impact tonight as Raul Ibanez continued his resurgence at the plate. Ibanez had two hits and two RBIs on the night and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He's hitting .418 in those last 12 games as he's increased his batting average to .269.

And the Phillies have steadily but surely climbed back into contention and faught back into serious contention even with the 15 Phillies who have hit the disabled list this season, this team have proven even with all the losses to this team's regular starting lineup, that the still have fight left in them and the front office still believes in this team as well as evidenced as the trade for former five-time All-Star first baseman Mike Sweeney.

Sweeney will replace the injured Howard for the next couple of weeks and will become the main right hander off the bench down the stretch for manager Charlie Manuel. Sweeney is expected to join the team tonight.

One final positive note from tonight's game was the play of pitcher kyle Kendrick who has transformed into a very competent option for the Phillies since the loss of Jamie Moyer. Moyer was the consistent low end of the rotation starter on the staff before his injury and now Kendrick has filled in really well and tonight he kept up his streak of quality starts only giving up two runs tonight over six innings of work and picked up his second cinecutive victory to improve to 7-4 on the season.

In the series finale, Roy Oswalt will take to the mound looking to improve upon his lackluster debut in Washington last Friday night when he gave up four earned runs in seven innings of work. An impressive Oswalt tonight would give Phillies fans a great feeling going into this weekend against the once again flailing New York Mets at Citizens bank Park.